Linda Haywood-Shea had stopped playing on her own tour for a while, but since returning in July, she's won two stops in a row on her J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, including the latest, this past weekend, September 11-12. The $500-added event, the sixth on the tour, drew 15 entrants to Cosmo's Billiards in Scranton, PA.
From among the winners' side final four, Haywood-Shea faced and defeated Brianna Miller 7-5 to get into the hot seat match. She faced Megan Smith, the tour's top-ranked player, who had defeated Denise Reeve 7-3. Smith sent Shea to the semifinals 7-5, in what would prove to be her last victory.
On the one-loss side, Miller faced Colleen Shoop, who'd defeated Borana Andoni 7-2 and Shanna Lewis 7—6. Reeve picked up Judie Wilson, who'd gotten by Nicole Nester 7-3 and Eugena Gyftopoulos 7-6. Miller and Reeve advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-3 wins over Shoop and Wilson. Miller then squeaked by Reeve 7-6 to get into the semifinal match versus Haywood-Shea.
Haywood-Shea dominated that semifinal match, defeating Miller 7-1 and turning to face Smith. Shea took an early 5-1 lead in the modified race-to-9 finals (Haywood-Shea had to reach 7 first to extend the match to 9 games).
“And then,” said Shea, after the match, “the rolls started going the other way.”
Smith caught up, but not before Shea had reached 7 to extend the match. The two battled to double hill before Haywood-Shea concluded her second straight win on the tour.
